I was a teenage Napster obsessive – and illegal downloading changed my music taste for good
Emma Garland
The P2P giant was shut down 20 years ago this week. But the omnivorous mindset it encouraged in a generation resonates in the very best of today’s genre-smashing pop
February 2021
Napster to make debut on London stock market this month
Listing is result of firm’s takeover by British music tech startup MelodyVR
September 2020
Napster buyer bets on VR gigs as music streaming thrives in lockdown
MelodyVR’s £52m purchase of the infamous disruptor turned heads, but investors are liking what they see (and hear)
August 2020
Business leader
Is Hut Group's vaulting ambition a leap too far in cutthroat online market?
Business live
Worst fall in UK retail employment since financial crisis as Covid-19 takes toll – as it happened
Napster sold to London startup MelodyVR in surprise $70m deal
'You've been smoking too much!': the chaos of Tony Wilson's digital music revolution
June 2019
The networker
Farewell then, iTunes, and thanks for saving the music industry from itself
John Naughton
Apple expected to close iTunes after 18 years
May 2019
Oversharing: how Napster nearly killed the music industry
Twenty years ago, the idea of free music was so compelling that up to 80m users downloaded Napster and broke the law. The aftershocks are still being felt today
August 2016
Lyor Cohen: 'Steve Jobs was a seductive and profound bully'
He made his name with Def Jam and came through the ‘Greek tragedy’ of Napster. The mogul tells the Guardian why Apple’s svengali was difficult to work with and how he’s survived in the music business
July 2016
Yahoo is not alone: six failed tech companies and how they fell
As the internet company sells its core web business to Verizon, we take a look back at AOL, Myspace and other faded firms
April 2016
Music blog
Is YouTube a music industry devil or buzz-making deity?
Red Hot Chili Peppers’ manager Peter Mensch is the latest to slam the internet company for not fairly paying artists. But there’s more to the online music streaming debate than meets the ear
If Sean Parker has his way, opening night for movies will be in your living room
Napster founder, backed by Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson, is pushing Screening Room: a plan release films in theatres and at home on the same day – for a price
Will Sean Parker's Screening Room hurt or help the film industry?
The entrepreneur wants to make films available at home the same day they open in theaters. But can Screening Room repeat the impact of Napster?
March 2016
Peter Jackson, Steven Spielberg and JJ Abrams 'back' Napster founder's Screening Room
Sean Parker’s plan to make Hollywood blockbusters available at home on the day of their cinema release ‘will expand audiences’, says Jackson
The Guardian's Film Weekly
Napster does movies and The Witch reviewed – the Dailies podcast
The Guardian film team’s round-up of Thursday’s movie news and reviews
Napster founder plans to screen movies at home on day they hit cinemas
Revolutionary Screening Room venture by Sean Parker could end ‘theatrical window’ by offering new films at $50 a pop – despite industry doubts
June 2015
Going for a song: the hidden history of music piracy
From the late 90s, illegal filesharing gradually brought the music industry to its knees. Exclusive extracts from Stephen Witt’s book pinpoint how music ‘got free’
November 2014
The future of music sales is here. So how CAN the artists make it pay?
Singer-songwriter Taylor Swift reignited the row over streaming songs online when she removed her albums from Spotify, citing too little reward for the creators
